Initial engagement and persistence of health risk behaviors through adolescence: longitudinal findings from urban South Africa

Table 2 Childhood and adolescent stage of initial engagement among adolescents engaged in risk behavior activity at age 18 y^a

Measure	N initiate behavior	N current behavior	Childhood < 11 y	Early 11 to 13 y	Mid 14 to 16 y	Late 17 to 18 y	p-value^b
Males
Smoking	719	278	18 (44%)	130 (52%)	115 (53%)	15 (29%)	0.01
Alcohol use	537	300	2 (33%)	132 (59%)	109 (72%)	57 (56%)	0.02
Illicit drug use	273	89	NA	4 (33%)	22 (22%)	62 (64%)	< 0.01
Sexual activity	577	222	NA	40 (52%)	135 (54%)	47 (41%)	0.05
Females
Smoking	649	140	8 (50%)	37 (25%)	71 (27%)	24 (23%)	0.15
Alcohol use	521	210	2 (18%)	62 (38%)	85 (49%)	61 (42%)	0.05
Illicit drug use	133	30	NA	1 (11%)	7 (16%)	21 (37%)	0.04
Sexual activity	629	293	NA	3 (50%)	136 (61%)	154 (52%)	0.10

^a Displayed as N (%) of individuals who initiated a behavior in a given stage that reported current behavior activity at age 18 y
^b Chi-square p-values testing differences in childhood and adolescent stage of initiation among adolescents engaged in risk behavior activity at age 18 y

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